a Nightmare to Remember
by TheSymmetricalist
Summary: She was the one person in the universe who could take all the fear and tears away with a single touch of her hand. Her presence seemed to make all the bad stuff just fade into nothing. She would do anything for that boy, her precious Crona. Even if that meant waking up in the middle of the night and visiting him after a terrible nightmare leaves him too afraid to fall back asleep.


**(Sorry about the summary having all commas, for some reason all the periods I put down got deleted, which was annoying, but the commas it didn't delete.)**

**I had a super bad dream last night and for some reason when I woke up I began to write about it. Only issue was I was still half asleep while writing and once I finished the story I looked at it and said "Daheq is this?"**

**But it seemed cute enough to put on Fanfiction, so I figured that today I would. It's a little bit creepy (While I was proofreading it I kept looking over my shoulder and freaking out from my reflection in the window) but it settles down and quickly turns into fluff (Although I didn't add quite as much fluff as I wanted to.)**

**This is my second MakaxCrona story, a little fluffier than my last one (Although they actually might have around the same amount of fluff), and this time it's a little more than simple friendly fluff :)**

**One more thing before you read is that I have this mental idea that Crona no longer has black blood, but his own normal red blood, due to an experiment with Stein. This doesn't happen in the series (As far as I know since I haven't read all the manga yet.) but it did happen in my mind and so I keep to it in all my stories. As for what happened to Ragnarok, he became a cat. Again, this is just in my head and it never happened in the anime.**

**I only mention this because there's a part towards the end that might be confusing if I didn't explain it.**

**Now, without further ado**

**~*A Nightmare to Remember*~**

* * *

Darkness surrounded him as he stepped out of the car and into the empty parking lot. In front of him is the silhouette of a large board covered in bright white papers, and to the left of that he can see the outlining of a building, a supermarket in fact, and inside there is light, which ever so slightly illuminates the ground in front of the open doors.

He looks upwards and see's absolutely nothing. There's no moon, no stars, not even a cloud, it's simply blackness. Nor are there any lampposts around the area. The poor timid boy was surrounded by a gloomy darkness.

_'If I can get into the supermarket, I'll be safe from the dark. It's light in there, so I will be able to see, and I can wait there until morning.' _He thought to himself. He began taking small steps away from the car and towards the building, small, tiny, steady steps that would ensure he didn't bump into anything on his way to the building doors.

He felt oddly confident, like he could totally get into the building with no problem whatsoever, but then he turned around and saw the silhouette of a man much taller than him wearing a dark hoodie. He could just barely see the man since he blended in so well with the rest of the parking lot, but he knew the man was there, he sensed his presence.

He doesn't speak a word to the boy, so he turns back around and keeps walking, quickening his pace a bit to try and get away from the man, but the man quickens his pace as well.

_'I really hope he's not going in there with me.' _He thought to himself as he slouched his back a bit and crossed his arms, holding himself to try and calm down.

Crona saw the light of the building getting closer and closer, and he knew that soon he would be inside and would therefore be safe from the darkness out here. But just as he was about to step into an illuminated area, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and when he turned around he discovered that the man was holding him firmly with his left hand, and wielding a small pocket knife in his right.

Crona gasped before pushing the man away and taking off, heading inside of the building as fast as he could. The man chased after him, keeping a good pace behind him.

The timid boy felt an adrenaline rush hit him, and his heart raced a mile a minute as the chase continued.

Although it was bright inside and filled with good things like teddy bears and board games, Crona received no calmness or pleasure from seeing them since he was being chased by a madman. He had to hide, but where?

He headed towards the bathrooms and ran inside, not even caring if it was the women's or the men's. He ran into a stall and locked the door before jumping up on the toilet and crouching down, trying his best to not be seen.

It seemed to trick the madman; it had been a good few seconds already that he had been in there and the man was very close behind him during the chase. Crona gave a sigh of relief, but didn't move a muscle, not until he was 100% sure that the man was gone.

Another few seconds went by, and then a minute, and then two minutes, then three, all bringing the boy closer and closer to finally feeling calm and safe within this dimly lit bathroom. He almost considered falling asleep, this may have been an uncomfortable position, but he was tired and he finally felt like he was secure in here.

Curiosity struck him before somnolence did, and he wondered if he had gone into the men's bathroom or the women's.

_'It couldn't hurt to check, I'm just curious is all. The bad guy is gone, right?' _He reasoned within his mind as he slowly lifted himself from the crouching position and stood, keeping his hands on his upper arms almost the entire time as he did so. He walked slowly and silently over to the little crack in the door, and peeped through it to see if he saw any urinals.

Suddenly, a totally black formation appeared in front of his eyes, and he jumped backwards in fear, falling onto the toilet and hurting his back.

He then heard banging, and with each bang the door had rattled a bit. Crona whimpered in fear before climbing onto the toilet again and remaining there, his knees all the way up to his head as he hugged his legs close to himself and cried as the door swung open and the totally black silhouette walked inside, still holding the knife in his hands.

"Please, No!" Crona tried to scream, but not a single word came out. His throat only created slight airy sounds, which were useless against the hooded figure whom had taken ahold of him and was ready to slice his neck.

_'Why is this happening? Why does he want _me_ so much? What did I do to deserve this?' _Crona gave up the fight and went limp, the man still holding him by the shoulder as the blade went straight across his neck. He could feel the blood pour down from the open wound, drenching his clothing as it poured and poured, filling the room with his own blood in seconds. Crona closed his eyes and felt himself drifting away into the blackness…

* * *

"No!" Crona shot up from his bed, holding onto his neck firmly and breathing heavily as his eyes began to adjust to the darkness around him. His sweaty face swung from left to right, scanning the room and ensuring that he wasn't still in that awful place.

He felt wet all over, and very hot. He could feel and hear his heart pumping faster than a racehorse. His throat was dry and cracked and he desperately wanted a glass of water. His eyes were red and rimmed with tears. The poor boy felt like his life just flashed before his eyes.

Slowly his heartbeat calmed down to the point where he didn't hear it anymore, and he gently removed his hand from his neck, immediately feeling a cooling sensation upon it from the absence of his sweaty palm. He scrunched up into his usual position and began to cry, wishing that he had awakened to the morning and not to the night again.

He turned his head to the right to look at the clock that was on the little white nightstand next to his bed. It was only 1:04AM, he still had around five hours before the sun came back up.

There was no way he was going back to sleep, not so that he could just have another nightmare and then wake up again. He could maybe play a game on the computer or read a book, or maybe write a poem to help him calm down. But none of these things seemed like they'd help him right now, he wanted something else, he wanted compassion and kindness. He wanted another human to be here with him and hold him and pat his back and tell him it's alright.

He looked over at his little cellphone that was on the nightstand next to his clock and wondered to himself if Maka might still be up. It was Saturday, she could be having a movie night with Soul and Blair; they usually stay up pretty late on movie nights, so it was possible.

Crona reached over a shaking hand and grabbed the little flip phone, opening it up gently and looking through his contacts before he came to Maka's, but then he paused and contemplated whether or not he truly knew if she was awake or not…

_"How dare you call me at this hour! I'm trying to sleep you idiot! Our friendship is SO over!" _Crona's mind began to think about all the many things she could say if he woke her up, and he shivered slightly at each one. Even though deep down inside a piece of him knew that she'd never ever yell at him for something as simple as being woken up at a late hour, he still thought about how unpredictable she can be sometimes, like the time she unpredictably hugged him when he was obviously her enemy, or the time she unpredictably pressed her warm, soft lips against his cheek to kiss all his tears away when he was upset about his hamster dying.

And then, of course, there was the time that she unpredictably gave him a cellphone and said that he could call her anytime at all to talk about anything he had on his mind, and she would do her best to help him out.

_'Anytime at all. Anytime means that the time doesn't matter, that it could be one or two or three in the morning, and she'd answer and she'd talk to me and she'd care about what I have to say.' _Crona finally tapped the green "Call" button and placed the phone up to his ear, awaiting the sound of her voice as a muffled ring came from the earpiece.

After around three rings, he heard a click, and his heart jumped a bit.

"Hi, Crona! What's up?" She said in a happy, cheery voice. Crona could ever so slightly hear Soul on the other end mumbling something tiredly, and a little uncomfortable feeling arose in his stomach as he thought about the potential of them being in bed together.

"Um… Uh… I had a nightmare." Crona mumbled, his voice still awakening and sounding very muffled and scratchy.

"Awh, I'm sorry, honey. What was it about?" He smiled a bit when she said "Honey" to him. Something about that word made him feel happy inside, like he was special to her. When he asked her one time about what that word meant, she said it means that he's sweet and that she cares for him. Although he's still trying to figure out why he's apparently so sweet, her caring for him sure felt good.

"Well, I was being chased by a shadow holding a knife… and at the end of the dream he… he slit my neck…" Crona trembled a bit as memories of the dream came back to him.

"Oh goodness… Well that certainly sounds scary, honey, I'm sorry you had to go through that. Do you want to talk about it more in person?" Maka asked with the sincerest voice in the world which rang through Crona's ears like a sweet song.

"Like, tomorrow?" Crona asked a little confused at her offer.

"No, silly, like tonight. I don't want you going back to sleep with bad dreams on your mind. I'll come over there, okay?" Crona smiled widely before thinking of a response.

"I-I… I think I'd like that…" He let out, closing his eyes softly as he pushed his cheek closer to the phone. Maka and Soul didn't live very far from Crona at all; his apartment was barely a quarter of a mile away.

"Okay, hon! I'll be there in a little bit, hold tight until I arrive, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Alright, see you!" Before Crona could reply, he heard Soul say something that was actually very clear.

"You aren't seriously going over there right now, are you?"

"I'm going to take the scooter, don't worry."

"I didn't ask _how_ you're getting there. I asked _why_ you are going there at one in the freakin' morning."

"Because he's my friend, is that a problem?"

"I'm your friend too and I'm pretty damn sure you wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night to go see me just because I had a nightmare."

"Soul, quit being so jealous."

"I'm not being jealous I-" Maka hung up the phone to avoid letting Crona in on any more of their conversation.

Crona put down the cellphone on the nightstand and wrapped himself up again in his own arms, sighing at the sudden absence of her voice against his ear.

He admired Maka so much. She would do absolutely anything in the world for him, and she'd do it with a smile upon her face too. He adored her smile and the way she'd laugh whenever he did something amusing. He loved all the little hugs they shared and how she'd latch onto him and hold him firmly and yet lovingly whenever one of them was very upset over something, like when Crona's first pet hamster Chico died, or like when Maka's mother made plans to visit her for an entire month, but something came up and she couldn't make it. Crona remembered that Maka was especially heartbroken over that; she had so many plans for them to do things together, they were going to go to the movies and have a spa day and go shopping and do all the mother-daughter things that she hadn't been able to do in years. She was especially excited about introducing her to Crona, for weeks she told him a bunch of things about her that he never knew before, she told him all about all the places she's been and how smart and funny she is and how he would simply love her and how she'd love him too. She even mentioned how he was free to come along on some of the stuff they did if he wanted to, and even though he denied and said that they should spend quality time together on their own, she still insisted that he'd be coming on at least half of the things they did together whether he liked it or not. He felt excited about Kami visiting, but at the same time he felt a little uneasy. What if she didn't like him? What if she questioned his and Maka's friendship and told Maka that it would be wrong to hang out with the son of a witch? What if Maka took her advice and erased him from her life forever? He simply didn't know if he could deal with that.

But when Maka got the call saying that something had come up and she wouldn't be able to make it, Crona saw her happiness fade into a deep, sorrowful despair. He remembered her smiling from her mother's voice, looking worried as her mother spoke further, and then softly saying "I understand" before putting the phone down and frowning heavily. Tears welled up in her eyes and she ran towards Crona, holding him tightly as she cried into his neck.

He didn't like the fact that she was upset, in fact, he felt very angry with Maka's mother for cancelling like that. If she wasn't 100% sure if she'd be able to visit, then she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up like that. But even though the very thought of her crying onto him like that hurt him so badly, it was _him_ that she turned to for comfort, and he loved that fact. _He_ was her protector now, _he_ could make the tears fade away, _he_ was the one that she wanted to be around right now, and_ he_ was the one she wanted to hold right now.

He remembers holding her closer to him and slightly humming to her, slightly crying with her since he felt her pain as well, but also staying strong for her since she had always been strong for him.

Even though it was filled with sorrow and pain, he wouldn't trade that moment for anything in the world.

A slight knock was heard at the door, and he rushed out of bed to answer it, careful not to trip over anything as he did so.

He swung the door open, a smile on his face as he greeted her.

"Hi, Crona!" She reached out and hugged him lightly, not being able to help herself but to smell the warm lavender scent on his blue pajamas.

"Hi, Maka." He said happily but also delicately. She lifted herself away from him and then grabbed his hand gently before inviting herself inside and closing the door behind them.

"Are you ready to talk more about your dream?" She asked as she led them both to the couch and sat down, still holding onto his hand. Really, the number one thing on his mind was simply falling asleep next to her, if he could do that, he'd be the happiest boy in the world.

"Yes, I… I think so." He rubbed the back of his head with his free hand and looked around the room, trying to shake off this tired feeling he was starting to get. Maka's presence seemed to defeat all the darkness around him, and he only felt truly calm and collected when she was around.

"Okay then. What was the scariest part about it?" Crona's mind began to flash with images of that horrific dream. The darkness, the man, the chase, the blood… Oh the blood everywhere, splashing onto the floor from his neck like a waterfall and covering the walls in an instant. A black, horrifying mess everywhere, a sea of darkness.

"The… the blood. When my neck w-was slit, a f-fountain of b-black blood p-poured from my w-wound." He began to stutter as he cupped his neck with his free hand, shivering at the thought of it.

"Your blood was black again in the dream? Hmm…" Maka rubbed her chin, thinking about what he had told her.

"Y-yes…" He held on tighter to his neck, visibly disturbed by the images that were flashing through his mind. Maka raised her hand and held his back, patting it softly as she turned her body to face him, offering a shoulder for him to cry upon.

However, instead of taking the offer and drenching her shoulder in his tears, he placed his forehead to hers, closing his eyes as he drifted into a happier world within his brain.

"…Cr-Crona?" She lifted her right hand to touch his cheek, softly caressing it with her thumb as she closed her eyes too. He slowly pursed his lips and leaned into her, kissing her gently upon the nose as he breathed out slowly onto her, a tired, gentle moan escaping his throat as he did so. She giggled at the action and then kissed his chin, her upper lip ever so slightly touching his lower lip as she did so. She jumped back at the sudden feeling of softness, and touched her lips with her fingers, surprised that she actually did that.

"I-I-I'm sorry… Are you mad?" Crona cowered, balling up his hands within each other and placing them inside his lap.

"I'm not mad, that felt really, nice." She smiled at him before grabbing his arm and gently tugging at it until he released his hand and allowed her to move it. She wrapped her fingers around his and kissed his hand gently, the feeling causing Crona to drift into a state of ecstasy as he looked at her lovingly.

"I think you should think about happy stuff before you go to bed. That might stop the nightmare from returning. I can tell it scared you really bad, so I won't ask you about it anymore, okay?" Maka said compassionately as she reached her other hand for his that was still upon his lap.

"Maka, you're not going to leave now, are you?"

"Not if you don't want me to."

"Okay. Will you… um… read me a book?" Maka smiled at his request and tilted her head.

"Of course I'll read you a book!" Maka stood up, still holding Crona's hands as she dragged him off the couch and into his bedroom.

"Maka, why are we in here?"

"You said you wanted me to read you a book. But you have to be nice and cuddled up in bed before I do." She pushed him onto the bed and walked over to his bookshelf, looking at the many books, almost all of them donated to him by her, and trying to make a selection.

Crona wrapped himself up in the blankets and waited for her to come over and begin reading.

"Okay, do you have a favorite?"

"Um, not really."

"Let's read this one then." Maka picked up a rather thin book entitled The Life on the Land. Crona tilted his head and he looked at it curiously.

"I don't remember having that book…" It had a white cover with a black stripe across the bottom and golden lettering in a very fancy font. He couldn't figure out why hadn't seen this book when he was organizing his bookshelf.

"Because I bought it for you today." She walked over to the bed and went underneath the covers, cuddling herself up next to Crona afterwards.

"You did?"

"Yep, I've had it under my shirt this whole time. It's a comedy, so I think you'll enjoy it." Maka put an arm around Crona and had him turn the page for her to start reading. Crona relaxed onto her and shut his eyes as he imagined the scenes, only to be awakened by her struggling to turn the page without his help. Of course he always turned the page for her anyways, but she tried her best not to ruin his moment of peace.

Crona had a deep affection for Tracy, the protagonist, who reminded him a lot of Maka. She cared for everyone and hated to see her friends hurt, but she also had a tendency to snap at those who pissed her off consistently, mostly her younger brother.

Crona laughed at the many antics of Kevin, the protagonist's younger brother. Many things about him reminded them both of Black*Star, from the way he boasted about himself to the way he usually ended up breaking things instead of fixing them. One of the most memorable things about Kevin was the fact that he set fire to absolutely everything in the house, finally burning down the family's first apartment and forcing them to move due to his habits.

Crona saw a bit of himself in Tracy's best friend Alice, who was a timid girl who loved her friends dearly but often had trouble showing emotion towards them. She tended to shy out of situations she found intimidating, but she could usually always be coaxed out of her shell by Tracy.

Tracy's cousin Jake was almost entirely like Soul. He couldn't stand the thought of not being "cool" and often ended up getting beaten up by Tracy for doing something stupid or perverted. He was a trouble maker, but also had a kind heart, and he'd never let his cousin get hurt by anyone.

Crona found a lot of similarities to his friends in just about everyone in the book. He enjoyed picturing his friends playing out the parts, some things becoming almost predictable simply because that's the way it would probably go down in real life.

The book was sort of like a sitcom, it had no running plotline, there was no long term goal that anyone was trying to reach, nobody was out for revenge, it was just good, clean, comedic material that you could easily laugh to and depend upon to cheer you up when you're depressed. This was truly Crona's favorite book by far.

After the last chapter, Crona looked over at the time and realized it was 4:48. No doubt Maka probably had to go home right about now, so a slight depression sunk into him as he thought about going to sleep alone again.

But to Crona's surprise, Maka was fast asleep, the book still in her hands as her face sunk into the pillow. Crona relaxed himself down to meet her and noticed her eyes shyly open a little bit. He turned around and turned off the light and was surprised by two arms being wrapped around his middle, a warm face planting itself at his chest as he laid back down.

He placed his arms around her and laid his head on top of hers, lovingly sighing at the moment.

His eyes closed gently and he soon drifted away into a deep sleep.

And this time, instead of a nightmare greeting him the moment he closed his eyes, it was Maka.

And she was much better to look at then some creepy silhouette…

* * *

**I'm pretty impressed with myself with this story. Even though I was half asleep when I wrote it, it gave me some good ideas for what new stories I could write in the future.**

**I actually considered having them read Alice in Wonderland because its simply such an awesome book, but then I figured "Nah let's have them read this stupidly cool book from my childhood that nobody has ever heard of and add some nostalgia to this thing." So I did.**

**I hope you enjoyed it and if you did, then please review!**

**-The Symmetricalist**


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